


The Monster at the End of This Book

by Lalalli



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Halloween, Monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 05:04:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21265529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lalalli/pseuds/Lalalli
Summary: While everyone is busy fighting a giant bug monster, Jemma and Fitz are stuck inside. They make the best use of their time.





	The Monster at the End of This Book

**Author's Note:**

> I’m falling asleep right now, but I wanted to get this up before Halloween ended. Whatever. I’ll edit later.
> 
> **Edited now. 
> 
> Loosely based on one of those cheesy old monster movies I vaguely remember watching with my cousin as a kid.

“I can’t believe we’re stuck in here!” Jemma kicked again, her mud-splattered sneaker making barely more than a dull clang against the thick metal door.

Fitz continues to scan the shelves for the device his Uncle Holden described. “Believe it or not, saying that 800 times won’t make us magically unstuck.” He somehow manages to keep his voice neutral despite his inner distress. Ever since he and Jemma became friends almost four years ago as freshmen in Mr. Coulson’s history class, she’s always been the more calm and collected of the two of them. He’s never seen her lose her composure, not once. So watching her freak out and yell and kick futilely at the walls is extremely concerning - which is really saying something, considering that he spent the past two hours running and hiding from some sort of giant insect monster.

Jemma whirls to face him. “We should be helping our friends, not stuck in a giant metal box! I knew we shouldn’t have come here!” 

“You know as well as I do that this was the best plan,” Fitz argues. “Both Holden and Mr. Coulson agreed that we need the device to -“ 

Jemma throws her hands up. “Oh, well if _ Holden _ says -“ 

Fitz cuts her off. “What’s _ that _ supposed to-“

“I mean, Fitz, I know you worship the guy, but don’t you think it’s weird that he has a huge, protected safe filled with all these dangerous devices?” Jemma waves her arm to gesture at the shelves upon shelves of metal apparatuses gleaming under the light. “This place practically screams ‘I’m a supervillian!’” 

Fitz’s jaw drops. “Wait - hold on a second! You could probably say the same thing about the Batcave!”

Jemma rolls her eyes. “Your uncle is nowhere close to being Batman.” 

“That’s not what I’m saying! I’m just saying that there’s a thin line between -“ 

“Superhero and supervillian, yes, I know. You’re not exactly the first person to ever make that astute observation.” Jemma leans back against the door and sinks to the floor, resting her arms across her bent knees. 

Fitz frowns. “Hey, come on now.” He walks over to Jemma and kicks lightly at her shoe. “Don’t give up. Help me look - there’s probably something that can get us out of here hiding among all these supervillian contraptions.”

Jemma rolls her eyes as she pushes herself to her feet. “Yes, we better get out of here. I’m sure you’re eager to get back to your precious Aida.”

“Aida? What does Aida have to do with anything?”

Jemma snorts. “Oh, nothing, except that you’re always grabbing her hand and holding her and trying to protect her.” She stomps over next to Fitz and crosses her arms over her chest. 

Fit stares at her. “Well, yeah. She needed help. We were trying to run from a giant bug monster - I couldn’t just leave her.”

Jemma turns to look at the shelves, avoiding eye contact with Fitz. “Well, there was a giant big monster chasing me too, but you weren’t exactly rushing to hold _ my _ hand.”

“That’s because I know you can handle yourself. Aida was trying to run away wearing _ heels. _ She wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion.” He pauses. “Okay, so technically, we were at the Homecoming dance, so in that sense she _ was _ dressed for the occasion, but her outfit didn’t exactly lend itself well to the whole running-for-your-life portion of the evening.”

“You don’t have to justify yourself,” Jemma tells him, despite her tone saying the complete opposite. “You’re allowed to like her.” 

“Like her?” Fitz repeats in disbelief. “I don’t even know her.” 

Jemma scoffs. “How do you not know her? She’s the most popular girl at our school. She’s Homecoming queen.”

“Well, I mean, yeah, I know who she is but I don’t know her. Not well enough to like her.” He looks down at his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not the way I know you,” he mumbles.

Jemma has been staring at the same spot in the shelves for their entire conversation. “What about me?” Fitz has never heard her voice sound so small before. “Do you know me well enough to like me?”

Fitz suspects the way he feels about her might be considerably stronger than merely liking her. He’d be embarrassed about it if it weren’t for the sneaking suspicion that Jemma might feel the same way. 

He turns to look at her as she stares resolutely ahead at the shelves. As if sensing his gaze on her, she turns to look at him, her face mere inches away from his. He leans forward infinitesimally, unable to resist her gravitational pull. She’s been the center of his universe since the moment they met. Jemma must lean forward as well because their lips graze briefly against each other. 

When Fitz pulls back, he finds Jemma staring at him with wide eyes, her mouth agape. He leans forward again, and this time, their lips meet with intention, the kiss still soft, but lingering for one, two, three, four seconds.

They both lean back, taking the opportunity to study each other, their dilated pupils, the flush on their cheeks, their heavy breathing. And then, as though their rib cages are magnetized, they snap back together, their bodies clinging to each other as though trying to ensure there is not a single atom of space between their bodies.

This time, their kiss is hard and frantic and wet. Fitz slides his hands down, curling his fingers into Jemma’s hips, while Jemma’s arms wrap tightly around his shoulders. They stumble, losing their balance in their desperation to be as close to each other as possible, and Fitz uses their momentum to push Jemma gently against the wall. His hands slide up her ribs, tracing the bottom of the band of her bra from over her shirt. 

“Jemma,” Fitz gasps as he pauses for air. “I-“ 

Jemma cuts him off by pressing her mouth to his again. “I know,” she breathes against his lips.

Fitz slides a hand into her hair. “Do you -“ 

Jemma nods frantically. “Yeah. Of course I do.” She grapples at his back, drawing him back to her so they can continue snogging. 

Fitz loses all track of time, forgetting to feel bad that he was enjoying himself so thoroughly while everyone else was still in danger. Forgetting, that is, until a giant thud at the door startles them apart. 

Fitz turns to face the door, holding an arm out to keep Jemma behind him. Jemma grabs a long metal cylinder off the shelf next to them and holds it over her shoulder like a baseball bat, preparing to swing.

Despite being forewarned and prepared for the intruder, Fitz and Jemma can’t help but scream when the door bursts open.

The intruder holds up their hands in a sign of surrender. “Chill. It’s just me.”

“Daisy!” Jemma pushes past Fitz and throws herself at their friend, wrapping her arms around her. “We were so worried! Are you okay?”

Daisy pulls away from Jemma and holds on to her arms. “I’m okay, I just-“ 

“We have the device,” Fitz interrupts. “We better get it to Holden before-“ 

“Oh, don’t worry,” Daisy says, shifting her gaze to look at Fitz, “We don’t need that anymore.”

Jemma extricates herself from Daisy. “No, Coulson and Radcliffe said we -“

“What I mean is, the threat is over,” Daisy assures her.

Fitz and Simmons both stare at Daisy. Fitz clears his throat. “What do you mean -“ 

“I took care of it.” 

“But… how?” 

Daisy shrugs. “I talked to him.” 

Silence fills the room as Jemma and Fitz process this information. Finally, Fitz asks, “You talked to…”

“The monster. Yes.” Daisy pauses, looking off to the side as if replaying a conversation in her head. “He was actually super reasonable.”

“Um.” Jemma looks to Fitz for help. Fitz just shrugs. Jemma turns back to Daisy. “What did you say to him?” 

Daisy taps a finger against her pursed lips. “Mostly that this is a very populated area and he’s hurting a lot of people and could he please stop.” 

“And that _ worked _?” Jemma asks incredulously. 

Daisy shrugs. “I mean, yeah. Most problems can be solved with straightforward communication.” She turns to leave. “C’mon. Let’s go find the others.”

Once Daisy’s back is completely turned, Fitz slides his hand into Jemma’s. Jemma glances down at their hands, then up at Fitz in surprise.

Fitz clears his throat. “In the interest of straightforward communication, I love you and I want to date you and be serious about you.”

Jemma smiles and squeezes his hand. “I also love you and am serious about you.”

They swing their hands between them as they walk out of the room. “I hope you’re not disappointed you didn’t get to use any of your toys,” Jemma tells him. 

Fitz shrugs. “I’m just glad everything worked out.” He squeezes her fingers affectionately. “I’m finding it hard to be disappointed about anything right now.”

“C’mon nerds!” Daisy calls back towards them. “I told you and told you there was nothing to be afraid of.”

**Author's Note:**

> You guys, I was so zonked out when I posted this that I didn’t even remember how I ended it. It was surprisingly comprehensible. But talk about a Daisy ex machina, amirite?


End file.
